


New Christmas Traditions

by elleavantemm



Category: Gundam Wing
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-01-11
Updated: 2012-01-11
Packaged: 2017-10-29 09:16:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,151
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/318276
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/elleavantemm/pseuds/elleavantemm
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After a few years of living a life of resentment and bitterness, Wufei decides that it might be time to let go of the past and create some traditions of his own.</p>
            </blockquote>





	New Christmas Traditions

**Author's Note:**

> This story is written for the prompt "new Christmas traditions" for the winter round of the livejournal Advent Challenge.

Things had been difficult for Wufei after the war with OZ and Romefeller. At the time he had made his choice to ally with Mariemaia which caused tension between himself and those who had been on his side before; but what was he to (have done)? After losing his home colony - and what was more, his entire family - he felt that it made logical sense to seek revenge on those who were to blame. However, the taste of revenge left a bitter taste in Wufei’s mouth. When the others welcomed him with open arms and without judgment, he was grateful, but didn’t understand how to handle the emotions that had overwhelmed him.

The months after had been a difficult transition and there was still a great deal of lingering bitterness towards OZ, towards the colonies, and towards himself. He spent most of his time alone, lost in his thoughts and allowing guilt to fill up all the emptiness inside.

Now, three years on, things had begun to settle into something resembling normal life for him. Working for the Preventers was a rewarding job that he enjoyed, and while there were occasional jokes about Wufei’s inability to relax and let loose, he knew that they were made with good intentions from people that he was beginning to truly consider friends, not just fellow soliders.

“Hey, Chang!” a familiar voice called. “Wait up for a second!” Duo Maxwell hurried down the hall between their offices at Preventers headquarters, braid bobbing back and forth behind him. “Are you heading home? Did you want to come do some Christmas shopping with me?”

“Shopping?” Wufei replied with skepticism.

“Yeah. Malls. Lines. Holiday items. Come on, it’ll be fun.”

Fun was not the word that Wufei thought to apply to the things that Duo had listed. “Are you buying for someone in particular?”

“No; more like a few people. I don’t really know what I’m looking for yet.”

Wufei sighed internally; shopping with people who had no idea what they were looking for did not imply a short trip. He checked his watch and frowned. “I’m going to have to say no, Maxwell. It’s late and I’m tired and I can’t really say that maneuvering through a hoard of holiday shoppers is how I want to spend my evening.”

Duo deflated a bit. “Okay. I understand. Hey, don’t forget about that office Secret Santa that’s coming up. Have a good night!”

Wufei waved as he continued towards the bank of elevators.

Christmas. Despite the three years since Wufei had made the move to earth he still had no appreciation for the holiday. Office parties always resulted in co-workers getting embarrassingly drunk and doing things that left everyone feeling awkward in the days following. And the commercialism; the amount of consumerism during the holidays was absolutely _mind boggling_.

He tried to think of what types of traditions he had practiced with his family on L5, but nothing really came to mind. There was the Spring Festival, but that was long after the Christmas season ended. “Well, Chang,” he said quietly to himself as he waited for the elevator. “Is it going to be another year of sitting alone in your empty apartment while your friends and co-workers celebrate the holiday together?” Maybe it was time to start some new traditions.

The elevator doors opened with a friendly ding, but Wufei had already turned around, heading back down the hall to Maxwell’s office. The other man was just putting his jacket on when Wufei filled the frame. Duo raised an eyebrow. “Did something happen?”

“Would you like to take my car?”

“Huh?”

“To the mall. Would you like to take my car?”

It took a moment for the pieces to come together, and then Duo’s mouth was curving into a wide, familiar grin. “Sure, yeah. Let’s get going before the mall closes.”

+++

The mall was, as expected, packed with hurried holiday shoppers. Wufei and Duo pushed their way through the mass of bodies from store to store, the slow accumulation of bags eventually making their attempts more difficult. Despite his trepidation about accompanying the other man, Wufei found that he was having a good time. Duo carried most of the conversation, talking about work and then friends, in the process revealing things about their co-workers that Wufei had previously been unaware of, or had been disinterested to learn on his own.

“Who did you get for Secret Santa?” Duo asked, and Wufei realized that he perhaps wasn’t really listening to the conversation any more.

“Hm? Oh, Noin.”

“What are you looking to get her?”

The question caught Wufei off guard. What was he going to get her? Something practical, he thought. “Something practical,” he said.

Duo wrinkled his nose. “It’s a Christmas gift, Chang. It doesn’t have to be practical.”

“What’s wrong with practical?”

“Nothing.”

“Obviously you think there is, Maxwell, or you wouldn’t have made such a statement.”

Duo sighed, putting down the snow globe he had been turning over in his hands. “I just think maybe you should get her something you think she might actually _like_ ; and while I’m sure she’d appreciate something practical, it might be nice to push the envelope a bit.”

“I--” Wufei hesitated. “I don’t know her that well,” he admitted. “Something practical makes it much easier for me.”

Duo clapped a hand on Wufei’s shoulder. “Look... there’s still some time before the gift exchange. Why don’t you casually poke around and ask some questions about the kind of things that Noin likes. Even casually asking her preferences in person might be a good idea. The gift will be that much better, I promise.”

+++

It was easier to get information about Noin than Wufei thought possible. Everyone he talked to was quick to supply comments on her likes, dislikes, and general interests. Even Noin offered insight without much prompting when he casually asked her about Christmas; she had waxed nostalgic about a a memory of Christmas as a child that had been rather eye opening. More surprisingly was the way that Wufei learned more about his other co-workers through their short interactions.

Suddenly he was seeing things in window displays all over the city that he thought might be appropriate for this person or that person. He had even stopped by a Christmas tree lot on impulse, purchasing a modest sized tree to fill the empty space in his apartment. He called Duo before leaving the tree lot with a request for some assistance with a project at his home, and an “oh, by the way... you wouldn’t happen to have any spare Christmas decorations around would you?”

Duo was waiting outside the building when Wufei pulled in, earmuffs on and puffing out heavy misting breaths as he rubbed his hands against his arms. The cold seemed to disappear as his eyes fell on the Christmas tree that was sticking out of the trunk of the car. “Is-- is that a Christmas tree?”

“Yes.”

“But--” Duo smiled, confused. “You’ve never gotten a Christmas tree before.”

Wufei shrugged as he opened the trunk and began to haul the tree out onto the ground. “I decided that I needed to create some traditions of my own,” he offered by way of explanation. “Can you grab the end there and help me bring this in?”

With effort the two men were able to get the tree up several flights of stairs and positioned in the corner of Wufei’s living room. It looked beautiful even unadorned. “Did you find any decorations to spare?”

“Sorry, Chang. But we can swing by the store if you’d like? Or we can invite the guys over and make some.”

“Make some?”

“Sure. Paper chains; pop corn garland.”

“That sounds as though it might be... agreeable.”

Duo made calls to the other former-pilots, and within the hour three familiar faces were standing at Wufei’s door. “I brought some apple cider!” Quatre said cheerfully, hefting a large jug of dark unfiltered apple juice in the air.

Heero and Trowa smiled fondly at the blond as they stepped into the room. “Oh!” Heero said, almost involuntarily. “You got a tree.”  
“It’s the reason that you’re here!” Duo called from the kitchen. “Quatre, bring that cider in here so we can heat it up on the stove.” Quatre grinned widely and went to join Duo.

“If you don’t mind my asking...” Heero hedged.

Wufei shrugged. “I decided that I didn’t want to sit alone in my apartment this Christmas. A tree seemed like a good first step.”

Trowa adjusted his grip on a box full of assorted decorations and several strings of lights. “I don’t know if the lights work or not, but at least there are some things we can put on the tree.”

The evening was spent in casual, comfortable conversation. Only two strings of lights worked, and there weren’t enough working bulbs to replace the burnt out bulbs on the other strings. Yet they chose to loop them over the branches anyway, the wall behind the tree lit with green and red and yellow. The air in the apartment was thick with the smell of apple cider - cinnamon and nutmeg and cloves.

When Duo’s stomach rumbled loudly, followed quickly by Quatre’s, who immediately looked shame faced, Wufei stood from his seat on the floor and stretched. “What does everyone feel like eating? I could make some noodles; there’s probably some meat in the refrigerator. Or dumplings?”

“Dumplings?” Quatre said perking up. “Home made dumplings? Please. Yes. _Yes_.”

“I’ll help,” Heero offered.

“You don’t need to do that,” Wufei replied.

“No, but I’d like to.”

The two men worked in silence, mixing the filling and folding the wrappers in an efficient assembly line. Suddenly Heero said quietly, “It’s nice to see you settling in.”

Wufei didn’t respond, not entirely sure what to say.

“Don’t take that to mean anything negative. Just, after three years I was beginning to worry. You’re a valuable member of the team at the Preventers, and well-- I consider you a friend, Wufei. I don’t know if you knew that or not, but I do.”

“Thank you, Yuy. For your concern and... your friendship.”

When they emerged from the kitchen some time later - after a number of interruptions from hungry onlookers - it was with a plate piled high with dumplings, and another of noodles, beef, and greens. The tree had been decorated with the garlands they had been making earlier; Wufei thought it looked a bit sad and beautiful at the same time.

“I’d like to thank you,” Wufei said before sitting, his near-empty glass of cider held aloft, “for being here today to help with the start of happier days and new traditions.”

Everyone clinked their mugs against the others before digging into the food on the table. Quatre’s eyes fluttered shut at the first bite of a dumpling, while others did not keep their healthy appreciation for home made food quite as modest.

“This is _amazing_. I had no idea you could cook.”

“I never really gave any of you the opportunity to find out.”

+++

The next week at the office was the impromptu Christmas party and the exchange of Secret Santa presents. Throughout the day Wufei had slipped quietly into various offices and left neatly wrapped presents, addressed and signed, on desks to be found before heading home. There was laughter as people opened gifts to find ridiculous joke presents, and some tears at incredibly thoughtful gifts.

When it was Wufei’s turn to reveal who his recipient was, his stomach went tight with nerves. He hoped that Duo’s advice that a more personal gift would be well worth the effort would turn out to be correct. “Merry Christmas, Noin,” he said, crossing the room to put a slim box with a silver ribbon into her hands. Noin smiled warmly and began to open her gift.

As the paper dropped away, Noin became very quiet.

“Noin? What is it? What did you get?”

She looked up at Wufei with tears in her eyes  
. “Wufei... this is-- I-- how did you know?” She held up a delicate porcelain figurine of a ballet dancer, leg extended and arms stretched back behind its head.

“You mentioned a ballet that you had seen with your mother one Christmas a child one day when we were talking. I could tell from the way you spoke about it that it meant a lot to you.”

Noin choked on a laugh. “I said that almost in passing. I can’t believe you remembered that. Thank you. _Thank you_. It’s beautiful, really.” She crossed the room and wrapped him in a hug. After only a moment’s hesitation, he returned it. “I’m pleased that you like it.”

His smile lingered long after the party ended; a warm feeling had settled into his chest and for the first time in a very long time he felt content.


End file.
